Salute To A Switchblade

Me and Yates an army buddy o'mine Were doin' three years in Germany at the time We came upon these Frauleins in the bar Yates said, "Darf isch zee be-gleit-en?", they said "Ya" And 'Darf isch zee be-gleit-en means?', 'Can we sit with you all?' Oh we must have drunk ten quarts of German beer My conscience and my sinuses were clear I asked that Fraulein if she was a spy She said, "Nein but do bis ain bissel high" A condition not uncommon to the American soldier Well, later on I went to be excused When I returned I was a bit confused Yates and his Fraulein had hit the air Another guy was sittin' in my chair A young soldier whom we shall get to know better I said, "Excuse me mister that's my seat I'd like to have it back sir if you please That girl's a nurse and I've been awful sick" The man looked up at me and said, "Mox-nix" Which means that he was not overly concerned with my health Next thing I knew he had a switchblade knife Oh Lord, I didn't know that Fraulein was his wife I took off through that Gasthaus like a fool Behind me I heard the crashing stools As the police would say, he was in hot pursuit Well, the waitress yelled there's MPs on the way That's one more reason I didn't want to stay As I went out the window somethin' went switch And I giggled all the way home knowin' he missed At the time it seemed like a laughing matter But next morning my coat was lyin' there on the bunk And when I saw that coat it made me jump That man had cut my coat right down the back A little bit more and they'd been playin' me taps And knowin' the sad nature of that song I would decline it Well, later on I heard that guy got stabbed They sent him home and didn't that make me glad On love and marriage I want to say one thing Oh lady, if you're married wear that ring And the army has a new policy if you can't move it, paint it If it has a switchblade knife, salute it Not necessarily an incident one would want to write mother about Germany being full of good soldiers and good people